Antagonist - Childe Cycle 11 (26 page)

"And
where
are
you
going
with
this?"

"You've
already
deduced
the
existence
of
an
unknown—a hidden—group
on
this
planet.
But
you
know
next
to
nothing
about them,
so
how
can
you
conclude
that
they
couldn't
have
attacked us?"

"But
that
group,
whoever
they
are,
should
not
have
had
any
reason
to
attack
us,"
he
said.
"Yet."

"Go
at
this
from
the
other
side
of
the
problem,"
she
said.
"Ask how
they
knew—not
only
that
we
were
on
the
planet,
but
that
we presented
a
threat
of
some
sort
to
them.
And
then,
ask
how
anyone could
have
known
where
we
were
going
to
be—not
once,
but
twice."

He
nodded.
"I
guess
they've
done
us
a
favor."

She
looked
at
him,
interest
in
her
face.

"You
know
perfectly
well
what
I
mean,"
he
said.
"We
still
don't know
who
those
people
are—but
we
definitely
know
there's
someone
out
there!"

"More
than
that,"
she
said.
"We
now
know
they
have
some
sort of
access
to
our
plans."

"And
that
narrows
the
range
we
have
to
search
quite
a
lot, doesn't
it?"

"Yes,"
she
said,
looking
more
somber.
"Our
own
people." "Yes."

They
talked
on
quietly
for
a
time,
as
the
night
passed
outside
their container.
Bleys
slipped
into
an
intermittent
and
unrestful
nap,
awakening
each
time
the
medician's
CALL
roused
her
for
another
check on
Dahno's
condition
...
and
sometimes
he
woke
for
no
reason
that he
could
tell,
as
if
he
were
seeking
to
escape
some
dream
his
waking mind
could
not
remember.

Toni
stayed
awake,
keeping
her
attention
focused
on
the
satellite news
channel
that
beamed
down
steadily
as
they
moved
across
the face
of
a
continent.

"Are
you
all
right?"
she
asked,
finally,
softly,
a
few
hours
later, when
he
had
come
uncomfortably
awake
once
more.

He
looked
at
her,
wondering
what
she
was
referring
to.

"I'm
tired,
and
my
head
aches,"
he
said
warily.
He
kept
his
voice low,
as
she
had.
"But
I'm
not
hurt."

He
stopped,
and
flicked
his
eyes
in
the
direction
of
their
companions
in
the
container.

"It's
all
right
to
talk,"
Toni
said,
still
keeping
her
voice
down. "Dahno
is
heavily
sedated,
and
Mary's
sound
asleep."

"I've
been
waiting
to
see
if
I'm
going
to
go
into
another
blackout,"
he
said,
almost
whispering.
"But
I'm
not
sure
I'll
know
I'm doing
so,
until
after
I
come
out
of
it."

"You've
certainly
had
enough
stress
to
bring
on
two
or
three blackouts,"
she
said,
almost
cheerfully.
"We'll
deal
with
that
if
it happens.
But
that
wasn't
what
I
was
getting
at."

"Then
what
were
you
asking
about?"

"How
are
you
doing,
emotionally?"
she
said.

"Emotionally?
What
makes
you
ask
that?
Are
you
wondering
if nearly
being
killed
is
going
to
make
me
break
down?"

"Break
down,
no,"
she
said.
"But
it's
not
unusual
for
people
to have
an
emotional
reaction
of
some
kind
after
they
get
out
of
a
bad situation.
When
we
had
to
fight
our
way
off
Newton
you
were
sick from
the
DNA
poisoning,
so
I
couldn't
tell
how
you
were
doing otherwise.
But
it's
occurred
to
me
that,
if
you
aren't
already
having some
reaction,
maybe
you
should
be
warned
to
expect
one."

"I
guess
I
know
the
kind
of
thing
you
mean,"
he
said,
remembering
how
he
had
felt
the
first
time
he
killed
a
man—Dahno's
old associate—back
on
Association.
"So
far
there's
no
sign
of
anything like
that."

"It
may
sneak
up
on
you,"
she
said.
"Don't
be
surprised
by
it, and
don't
let
it
make
you
do
something
you'd
regret." "Are
you
having
a
reaction?"

"A
little,"
she
said.
"But
one
as
trained
as
I've
been
keeps
her
ki centered
as
a
matter
of
habit;
and
that
helps
prevent
her—me— from
being
thrown
off
balance."

"I
don't
know
if
that
means
you
don't
have
a
reaction
to
all those
deaths,
or
if
it
means
you
have
a
way
to
cope
with
that
kind
of reaction."

"The
latter,"
she
said.
"Being
as
trained
as
I
am
doesn't
mean I
don't
feel."

"I
didn't
think
otherwise,"
he
said.
"It's
different
with
me,
a
little.
I
began
to
train
myself,
long
ago,
to
prepare
for
the
deaths
that would
be
necessary
...
it
doesn't
mean
I'm
blind
to
them.
But
they can't
throw
me
off
stride."